Abstract
The purpose of this study is to compare surgical outcomes of the 2 groups: decompressive laminectomy and laminectomy with fusion in lumbar spinal canal stenosis. The subjects were 269 patients (209 with laminectomy alone and 60 with fusion) were followed more than 1 year. Surgical time and amount of blood loss of the laminectomy group were significantly less than the laminectomy with fusion group. No difference of the outcomes was observed between the two groups in average recovery rates at the final follow-up, and also at short (<3years after surgery), middle (≥3years, <7 years), and long term (≥7 years) follow-up. Surgical outcomes in limited to degenerative spondylolisthesis showed similar results between the two groups. Interestingly, the patients with laminectomy rather had less low back pain than those with fusion at the short and middle term follow-up. In conclusion, surgical outcome of the laminectomy group was as good as with fusion group, therefore, it is thought to be a preferable surgery for the patients with lumbar spinal canal stenosis without instability.
